Andy Pettitte Pitched

Well, they didn't win. On Sunday, in Andy Pettitte's first start since 2010, the Yankees lost. Pettitte missed a few times and gave up a couple home runs to a weak Seattle offense. The rest of the Yankees, as is their wont every couple of games, offered their pitcher little to no support with bats in hand. They stranded a crowd of base runners and notched just two runs, both on bases-loaded walks, troubling fellow old bro Kevin Millwood for just one of those runs to Pettitte's four. The Yankees were still feeling pretty pleased afterward, though.

Despite those runs conceded, the consensus is that Pettitte looked pretty sharp. He threw his fastballs fast and generated a lot of ground balls. Even that pair of two-run homers didn't feel totally damning if you ask the folks at Pinstripe Alley:

After walking Jesus Montero in the fourth inning, Justin Smoak hit a ball that landed in the first row of seats in left-center field. It probably would have gone out in a decent number of parks and if not, it would have been a hard-hit double, but it's still worth noting that it wasn't as bad as the boxscore might have you believe. The second two-run homer Pettitte surrendered was a Yankee Stadium Special — a shot by Casper Wells down the right field line that dinged off the foul pole. It wasn't the absolute bottom of the foul pole, but it certainly wasn't a towering drive, either.

Afterward, everybody agreed that there was a little bit of rust — a few missed four-seamers and some cutters that didn't cut right — but Pettitte looked like the Pettitte we know and love. He felt "comfortable" and Joe Girardi thought he "hadn't missed a beat". His teammates were all thrilled. Pettitte departed to a big ovation in the seventh inning, and if you look around the papers, you'll find plenty of optimistic words.

So, the Yankees lost, but folks are feeling pretty upbeat. Pettitte looked more or less like himself, and must have been delighted to be making headlines on the field and away from a courtroom. With luck, he'll have things a bit sharper in his next start, and maybe he'll get a hand from his hitters as well.